1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording medium and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly to a magnetic recording medium suitable for external storage devices of computers and a manufacturing method thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to a magnetic recording medium which has a lubricating layer including a perfluoropolyether compound having a perfluorotrimethyleneoxy repeating unit in the main chain and a cyclic triphosphazene structure, and which makes it possible to reduce the head flying height, and also to a manufacturing method thereof. The present invention also relates to a method for reducing the head flying height and improving the electromagnetic conversion property of a magnetic recording medium by changing the mixing ratio of the perfluoropolyether compound in the lubricating layer.
2. Background of the Related Art
In order to improve durability and reliability of a magnetic recording medium (in particular, a magnetic disk) and also to reduce a friction force generated between the protective layer of the magnetic recording medium and the head, it is necessary to impart a lubricating property to the magnetic recording medium. For example, a lubricating property has been improved by forming a lubricating layer including a perfluoropolyether lubricant having a polar end group such as a hydroxyl group in a molecule on a diamond-like carbon (DLC) film that is typically used as a protective layer for magnetic recording media.
Further, Patent Document 1, WO 2007/043450, describes the feature of forming a lubricating layer by using a perfluoropolyether lubricant represented by Formula (V) and having a cyclic triphosphazene structure in a molecule with the objective of improving the adhesion to a magnetic recording medium and reducing decomposition ability. Further, Patent Document 2, WO 2006/009057, describes the feature of forming a lubricating layer by using a mixture of a compound with p=1 and a compound with p=2 in Formula (V). Patent Document 3, WO 2008/140121, describes the feature of forming a lubricating layer by using a perfluoropolyether lubricant having a cyclic triphosphazene structure with a different number of perfluoropolyether side chains.

A lubricating layer formed on a protective layer can be assumed to be constituted by two layers. The first layer is a layer bonded to the protective layer (referred to hereinbelow as “bonded lubricating layer”), and the other is a layer present on the bonded lubricating layer and not bonded to the protective layer (referred to hereinbelow as “free lubricating layer”). From the standpoint of improving the properties, it is preferred that the lubricating layer have a structure with a thin free lubricating layer and a thick bonded lubricating layer.
However, following recent trend to increase in density of magnetic recording media (magnetic disks), more stringent requirements have been placed on the lubricant properties. In order to meet such requirements, it is important to ensure compatibility of heads and magnetic disks, and a lubricant material is needed that will make it possible to bring the head close to the magnetic disk (to reduce the head flying height).
In addition, the number of cases in which the recently developed hard disk drives are used not only for personal computers that are used indoors, but also in outdoor environment such as portable devices and car navigation systems, has grown. When the hard disk drive is used in an outdoor environment, in particular, a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, such environment makes it difficult for a magnetic head slider to levitate. This problem is apparently attributable to cohesion of moisture contained in high-humidity air. Therefore, the problem of disposing a lubricant more accurately on the surface of a magnetic recording medium (magnetic disk) used in a hard disk drive is of major importance.
In order to solve this problem, it is important to reduce the height of the molecule and control the orientation of the lubricant on the protective film. Fomblin (trade name) Z-dol (Formula (III)) and Fomblin (trade name) Z-tetraol (Formula (IV)) lubricants, which are presently typically used for magnetic recording media, are perfluoropolyether compounds having a hydroxyl group at either end (in the formulas, p and q are integers equal to or greater than 0, but the case in which p=q=0 is excluded).

The specific feature of the compound represented by Formula (III) and/or Formula (IV) is that when a lubricating layer is formed by coating on a protective layer, C, F, and O contained in the molecular structure are arranged randomly. This specific feature is affected by the molecular structure (hydroxyl group present at each end) represented by Formula (III) or Formula (IV). Due to random arrangement, active oxygen atoms face the head side (front surface side), rather than the protective layer side. As a result, the adsorption of contaminating substances is enhanced and the adsorptivity on the head slider surface is increased. Such phenomena cause a variation in head flying property.
Therefore, in order to decrease the head flying height and improve the flying stability, a lubrication material is needed that has a chemical structure different from that represented by Formula (III) and/or Formula (IV). In this regard, Non-Patent Document 1, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, “Lubricant Pickup of Ultra-Thin PFPE Lubricants with Different Backbone Structures”, Vol. 47, No. 7, July, 2011, pp. 1837-1841, reports that a lubricant pickup by the head is different when a lubricant is used that has the structure represented by Formula (I) which has a different main-chain repeating unit.

In the case of conventional lubricant containing the compound represented by Formula (III) and/or Formula (IV), the head flying property has been improved by optimizing the additive to be added and the mixing ratio thereof, the total film thickness of the lubricating layer, and the bonded ratio. However, the problem is that when such means as the decrease in the total film thickness and/or increase in the bonded ratio is used to improve the head flying property, other properties (durability and the like) of the magnetic recording medium (in particular, the lubricating layer) are degraded.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a magnetic recording medium that can realize high electromagnetic conversion property by reducing the head flying height, without degrading other properties, and also to provide a manufacturing method thereof.